200,000 Rohingya children need urgent support: UNICEF

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More than 200,000 Rohingya children, who have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar, are at risk and they need urgent support, UNICEF said Tuesday, Anadolu Agency reports.

“This is a growing humanitarian crisis and children are at the heart of this crisis,” Jean Lieby, chief of Child Protection of UNICEF Bangladesh, said in a news conference at Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar near Myanmar border.

According to preliminary data, Lieby said, 60 percent of the refugees are children.

“The first thing you see here in different Rohingya camps is the large numberof children. You see children who have not slept for days, they are weak and hungry,” he said.

He said the UNICEF believes 200,000 Rohingya children need urgent support.

The UNICEF official also expressed deep concern for the separated children. “We have identified 1,128 children who are separated. However, we expect this number to increase a lot in the coming days”.

“As camps are growing every day we need to provide safe drinking water and basic sanitation. We want to prevent the incidence of water-borne diseases,” he added.